The Important Bird Area (IBA) program was founded by BirdLife International in the 1980s and today contains over 8,000 identified sites across 178 countries. The purpose of the program is to identify a network of sites that maintain the long-term viability of wild bird populations while engaging the public to conserve those areas of critical habitat. National Audubon is the United States IBA partner and since 1998 has identified over 2,500 sites covering more than 370 million acres of habitat.

The Arizona IBA Program was established in 2001, is co-administered by Audubon Southwest and the Tucson Audubon Society, and works in close collaboration with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (through the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative), the Sonoran Joint Venture, the Intermountain West Joint Venture, Arizona State Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, and others. The state's 48 IBAs are varied in the type of habitat they identify but they all share one thing in common -  they are vital for Arizona’s native birds. Some are riparian corridors, others are cool and lush sky islands, a few are high elevation pine forests, and one is even a vast expanse of desert. Others, like the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch of the National Audubon Society IBA, are designated to aid in the conservation of Arizona's grasslands and grassland-dependent birds.

The Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch IBA was included in Arizona's IBA network for three reasons. First is the rare and exceptionally high quality grassland habitat found across the AWRR. Second are the priority bird species that call this habitat home - Chihuahuan Meadowlark and Cassin's, Grasshopper, Rufous-winged, and Botteri's sparrows. Lastly is our commitment to putting the property to work for research and education. To learn more about the Research Ranch and our work toward Important Bird Area goals, check out our AWRR IBA Mini Conservation Plan.

Downloadable Resources

SW_AWRR_IBA_MiniConservationPlan_2024